U.S. size Craftsman socket kit Hello, These days, those oldest Craftsman socket + open/closed end wrenches sets are not being used. My wife’s mantra is if it doesn’t get used in two years, then out it goes. Somehow, I just can’t get rid of them. My son’s family has no need for them, then it will probably go to our nieces’s family as they are still in repair/building stages of hot rods, drag racing and automobiles in general. They were the recipients of the larger socket set, ratchet handle and “click” torque wrench from Craftsman several years ago. (as well as the Whitworth size sets) They also were the recipients of my 12”table saw, small drill press, 10” sliding radial arm saw, a vise, and a band saw that had seen its last days of use for me. Whitworth sizes left over from 1963 Greeves Motorcycle desert days I have organized the “stuff” in the garage cabinet drawers as to how many uses they get during the past year. Used a lot, top two drawers. Used little, the bottom drawers. That bottom drawer on both sides gets the most scrutiny as it gets full fast. When we used to have neighborhood garage sales, tools were the fastest thing to move off of the sale areas. My wife was happy. But, those sales are few and far between as the idea of garage sales is waning in our neighborhood. We even re-purposed another sliding basket cabinet for some other tools and parts, but they have to get cleaned out monthly. Our house and garage has the minimum as far as storage areas, so those drawers are very useful, now, for household stuff. I still have a smaller socket set, the original Craftsman open end and box sets and assorted old "guaranteed for life" Craftsman screwdrivers, etc. Jnaki In the garage, I had to repurpose the top drawer with a bunch of nicknaks for a specific 1/64 scale model drawer. The sight of little hot rods and customs in all stages of completion or builds are just sitting in there waiting their turn to get finished. When one idea pops up, it comes to the surface, but if it does not get finished, back in the drawer it goes. The little cars were neatly lined up on the counter surface for their place in the “refurb” shop. Plus, they have their own specialty tools in a separate smaller drawer. But, they got in the way of someone and the command was to get those little #$%$@ hidden away. All of the old, little things put away for later use in the wide drawer, had to bite the dust if they were not used in a year. Now, the little hot rod "refurb" shop has its customers all lined up in a wide drawer, ready for disassembly and customizing. The old tubes, plugs, wire ends, cable TV clips, license bolts, and stuff I saved but for whatever reason, all bit the dust to make way for the 1/64 hot rod shop. The top counter surface has to be clean as we walk by it daily. If the garage door is open, people drive/walk by and see how messy it is, my wife gets irritated. So, the counter top is relatively organized and not messy. We once had a three car garage house and that small third garage had a mile long counter and plenty of drawers that held a ton of “stuff” organized in order of use, just like today. But, it was my choice back then as the multiple drawers were just for hobbies and custom car stuff. Today’s minimalist garage is much better as it keeps me on my toes and a clean garage for everyone.
Why not just leave them open ...........? Surely ‘slightly tensioned’ would prematurely wear out the spring.............. .
Mine pop open all the freakin' time w/o a little tension applied. Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Clip board on wall by tool box to list what tool I lent out to whom and date. No nuts an bolts lying around, all in containers and labeled by size and thread count. all "c" clamps closed and in one box, vise grips closed (more room in tool box) all electric cords coiled and hung with male/female ends plugged together.
When your rollaway is organized. It’s nice to be able to slide over to your box on a creeper and ie reach up 4 draws and blindly pull out the wrench you want. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
After 6 pages of posts, I'm going to have to say........ I'm different, I guess. My quirk is, don't put anything away and for sure don't clean up.
Oh Ya I forgot one, I'm sure after 6 page's it's been mentioned, I Always wipe my tool's down With thinner if near anything with oil! Do a fair amount of paint work...
All that discussion and nobody mentioned metric adjustables. I have 150mm and 200mm versions, both adjust in smidgins. you can fine tune by a hair, more or less. Oh yes, one has a reverse thread, which catches me every time. I think it is for left hand threads. Garpo
I agree that the common way to hold a tape measure is with the left hand and using the right hand to mark a measurement. I have no problem reading right side up or upside down. I assumed everyone can do this but apparently not. I used to hold books upside down in school when we were reading aloud in class. The teacher saw my book upside down and called on me to read. She was surprised as she stood behind me and watched me reading with the book upside down.
^^^^^ ....And guess who got singled out for a little extra attention punishment whenever deemed appropriate. Amirite?
A little weld would ensure the adj. wrench's non-use. In the 5% catagory would be brake line fittings; 10 x 1 mm aggregating.....lol Am I the only one that winds up ext. cords on his arm, using the thumb and elbow? They end up in a nice coil without twists.
I still use a manual dial caliper to measure most everything but the ten dollar digital one makes converting standard to metric measurements much easier
Its all good. I didn't even see what printed until now. Fat fingers are aggregating,....oh well, they irritate.
Sometime in the 60s, I picked up a Crescent adjustable marked on the handle as a 12"/300mm. I always assumed that the measurements were correct. After I read your post, I used a metric conversion table and found that the wrench should have been marked 12"/304.8mm. It makes no difference to me as I can make it fit whatever bolt or nut that got in it's way. If you use the one with the reverse threads, do you have to remember to turn your hand in the opposite direction?
You mean there's nothing on the floor between your work and the rollaway. I always find that there is something that has to be moved before I can get my creeper to move.
” a place for everything and everything in its place” My Crescent wrenches are the only tools not kept in tool cabinet. They are handiest below vise I’ve never bought a Crescent wrench. Found all, 2 large ones were left on engine at shop in Kearny Mo. I found them 2 days later in Toronto Also found rusty Crescent for shop keychain
If you remove the worm in an adjustable wrench and turn it over it will work the other way. I have all my worms rolling in the same direction.
I used to. Then I met a guy that showed me how to coil cords by flipping every other loop. They unspool without tangling. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I was an engineer at a company that made torque wrenches. We recommended dialing back to 20% of the max capacity. 100 lb ft capacity, dial back to 20 to store. This proved best to maintain accuracy.
The Jalopy Journal
